From the pulpit, the Archbishop of Montreal, on May 1st, 1949 declares his support for the asbestos strikers. His words were: "The working-class is a victim of a conspiracy, the aim of which is to crush and destroy it; it is the duty of the Clergy to intervene when this conspiracy exists. We want peace in the society but not the destruction of the working class. To us man is more important than money matters. This is the reason for the Church's intervention: It wishes justice and charity to be respected and also that more attention be payed to the human being and less to money matters." He ended his sermon by asking the congregation to lend a helping hand and ordered that collections be taken up at the doors of the churches in his diocese.
Soon after taking this position, Msgr. Charbonneau was removed from his post; he lived out the rest of his life as a pastor in British Columbia. There is some confusion about the reasons for his departure. Contrary to what we are led to believe in Thomas McDonough's play, his attitude towards the strike was not a factor. Historians Groilx and Rumilly cite as reasons his administrative mistakes. Poor health, which seems to have been the official explanation, was not the motive Msgr. Charbonneau indicated in a letter he wrote to his niece: "Health was not the true reason for my sudden departure from Montreal. I felt I had to leave in the light of the violent and subtle accusations by certain narrow-minded and vengeful people."
